Maker Faire® Milwaukee announces Hand of Man to be featured at 2016 event

MILWAUKEE – Maker Faire Milwaukee announced today that Hand of Man, a seven-ton interactive sculpture, will be featured at this year’s event on Saturday, September 24 and Sunday, September 25 at Wisconsin State Fair Park. The exhibit will perform daily demonstrations.

Developed by the Taos, New Mexico-based artist Christian Ristow with a grant from Burning Man, Hand of Man is a 26-foot hydraulically activated sculpture of the human hand with a “glove” controller. With help from Maker Faire visitors, the Hand is capable of picking up and playing with cars, motorcycles, golf carts, home appliances and other objects. Hand of Man debuted at the Burning Man Festival in Black Rock City, Nev., in 2008. Since then, the creation has traveled around the world, and appeared at the Coachella Valley Music Festival and the flagship Maker Faire in California. Hand of Man comes to Milwaukee following showings in Israel and Russia. In addition to Hand of Man, Ristow is the creator of EarthMover, Fledgling and Face Forward, other large-scale pieces that have helped the artist become well-known for his work and robotic performance art.

“I have always appreciated (Maker) Faire’s support,” Ristow said. “A big part of why I enjoy what I do, and what I want to inspire in others, is this idea that making is a valid thing to do with your life…I want other people to see that it’s possible, and that it actually has tremendous value.”

For more information about Maker Faire Milwaukee, visit www.makerfairemilwaukee.com. More information about Ristow and his work is available at http://christianristow.com/

Maker Faire Milwaukee

Part science fair, part county fair, and part something new! Maker Faire Milwaukee is a free, family-friendly event that aims to inspire, inform, connect and grow the making community in the spirit of education, community improvement and economic and workforce development. Now in its third year, Maker Faire Milwaukee is the nation’s largest free Maker Faire and the second-largest free Faire in the world. The event is co-hosted by the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum and Milwaukee Makerspace, and sponsored by Brady Corporation. Maker Faire Milwaukee is locally organized and operated under a license from Make Media, Inc.

In addition to Hand of Man, other headline events at the annual Faire include the GE Design & Build Challenge, the Power Racing Series, Virtual Welding Trailer Tour and NASA Glenn Research Center.

Past exhibitors have demonstrated blacksmithing; drones; electric vehicles; jewelry making; woodworking; a tiny house; a handmade airplane; model railroading; knitting and weaving; archery; leather work; 3D printing; laser cutting; Tesla coils; student projects (robotics, science clubs, culinary arts, etc.); engineering; electronics; conductive materials projects; Arduino and Raspberry Pi projects; robots; bicycles; costumes; puppets, kites, and other whimsical creations; music performances and participation; food and beverage makers; tinkerers; kit makers; rockets and RC toys; home energy monitoring, sustainability, green tech and alternative energy; recycling; radios, vintage computers and game systems; architecture and shelter (tents, domes, etc.); unusual tools or machines; how to fix things or take them apart (vacuums, clocks, washing machines, etc.); and much more.

About the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum and Milwaukee Makerspace

Milwaukee’s Betty Brinn Children’s Museum serves 240,000 children and adults annually and is a local and national leader in the growing Maker Movement. The Museum’s Be A Maker space is a communal workshop environment that invites visitors to explore a broad range of projects using a variety of materials, tools, digital resources and technologies that encourage children to experiment, learn new skills and share their accomplishments. In addition to the Be A Maker space and Maker Faire Milwaukee, the Museum’s maker initiatives include a Making in Education Community of Practice for K-12 educators, MakeShift, a series of maker events for adults, workshops with guest makers and other DIY-inspired events and activities for visitors.

The Milwaukee Makerspace is a 16,000-square-foot collaborative workshop in Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood where members – professionals, hobbyists, artists, crafters and students – share their tools, knowledge and their passion for making.

The Museum and Makerspace are active participants in the White House Office of Science and Technology Nation of Makers collaborative, and in other efforts to bring the impact of making to education, job creation and economic development in Milwaukee and Wisconsin.

About Brady Corporation

Brady Corporation is an international manufacturer and marketer of complete solutions that identify and protect people, products and places. Brady’s products help customers increase safety, security, productivity and performance and include high-performance labels, signs, safety devices, printing systems and software. Founded in 1914, the Company has a diverse customer base in electronics, telecommunications, manufacturing, electrical, construction, medical, aerospace and a variety of other industries. Brady is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and as of July 31, 2015, employed approximately 6,400 people in its worldwide businesses. Brady’s fiscal 2015 sales were approximately $1.17 billion. Brady stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BRC. More information is available on the Internet at www.bradycorp.com.

About Maker Faire

Maker Faire is the Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth – a family-friendly showcase of invention, creativity and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the Maker Movement. It’s a place where people show what they are making, and share what they are learning.

Makers range from tech enthusiasts to crafters to homesteaders to scientists to garage tinkerers. They are of all ages and backgrounds. The aim of Maker Faire is to entertain, inform, connect and grow this community.

The original Maker Faire event was held in San Mateo, CA and will celebrate its 10^th anniversary this year with more than 1,100 makers and 130,000 people in attendance. World Maker Faire New York, the other flagship event, has grown in four years to 600+ makers and 80,000 attendees. Detroit, Kansas City, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Orlando, Silver Spring, Paris, Rome, Oslo, Trondheim, Tokyo, Newcastle (UK), and Shenzhen are the home of larger-scale, “featured” Maker Faires and over 120 community-driven, independently organized Mini Maker Faires are now being produced around the United States and the world.

About Make Magazine

MAKE is the first magazine devoted entirely to Do-It-Yourself (DIY) technology projects. MAKE unites, inspires, informs, and entertains a growing community of resourceful people who undertake amazing projects in their backyards, basements, and garages. MAKE celebrates your right to tweak, hack, and bend any technology to your will. Download a free issue here.

Besides the magazine and the faire, Make is:

• a vital online stream of news and projects, makezine.com;
• a retail outlet for kits and books, the Maker Shed;
• a steady stream of fun and instruction via our YouTube channel;
• Make: Projects, a library of projects with step-by-step instructions; and
• a publisher of best-in category titles via Make: Books, including introduction to electronics, Raspberry Pi, 3D printing, Arduino and more.

Calendar Editors 

A celebration of innovation and DIY culture, Maker Faire Milwaukee 2016 runs Saturday-Sunday, September 24-25, at Wisconsin State Fair Park, 640 South 84th St., Milwaukee. Admission is free. www.makerfairemilwaukee.com.

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Maker Faire Milwaukee 2016 Sponsors
Maker Faire Milwaukee 2016 sponsors include: Presenting: Brady Corporation; Design and Build Challenge: GE Healthcare; Coppersmith: BMO Harris Bank, and Weld Specialty Gas & Equipment Company and Miller Electric; Locksmith: The Brico Fund and Harley-Davidson; and Blacksmith: Colectivo Coffee, Marquette University and Tormach

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

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